Darla McKaig wins quilt as part of fundraiser

Laurie Trindal, of 7th & Floral Food Pantry, left, displays a quilt in which Darla McKaig won in a fundraiser drawing for the food pantry.
(Charlotte Burrous/Daily Record)

As the need continues to expand, the 7th & Floral Food Pantry looks for ways to raise money.

Recently, members of the Needle 'N Eye Quilters donated a quilt to sell tickets for a chance to win.

And Darla McKaig did just that. She said she was excited and surprised to win the quilt.

"We raised (more than) $400 just selling tickets," said Laurie Trindal, of the food pantry. "One of the leaders is in my woman's group (so the quilters) donated it to us (for a fundraiser)."

The 7th & Floral Food Pantry is an all volunteer organization, who serves close to 300 families a month or more than 1,100 clients. In addition to providing food boxes from 1-2:30 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, clients can call 275-2623 for emergency food boxes. Participants are asked to bring an ID and a box if they have one.

On Friday and Saturday, the pantry will host an indoor yard sale with a plethora of items, beginning at 8 a.m. at 701 Floral Ave.

As the center continues to expand, recently two of the volunteers decided to offer the children of the clients something other than just snacks. With the toys in the basement, the volunteers set up a Kids Zone so the children have something to do while their parents wait to get the food boxes. The volunteers plan to rotate the activities on a regular basis to keep the children from getting bored.

In the past, the clients arrived, where they stood in line, but now, seating is available for about 140 clients to wait their turn, as well as seating for new clients.

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"The volunteers have worked the last couple of months," Trindal said. "Brandi Tyner, vice president of operations, has helped with numerous activities."

Trindal said a couple of the volunteers are trained to assist with food stamp applications, but they are not caseworkers, but they have the information to help them apply.

"We have lots of resources," Trindal said.

She said she wanted to thank everyone who helped the food pantry and others on the Community Holiday Outreach over the holiday season.

"We're hoping to form a coop with all the food pantries," Trindal said. "So we would still be our own entities, but then together as a coop, we might be able to get grant money so all of us can buy food a little cheaper (to) a much bigger buying power."

As the case in most organizations, the pantry could use more volunteers to help in a variety of ways. For more information, call 275-2623.

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